2017 Central Michigan Chippewas football team

2017 Central Michigan Chippewas football
2017 Central Michigan Chippewas football
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, L 14–37 vs. Wyoming
Conference	Mid-American Conference
	West Division
Record	8–5 (6–2 MAC)
Head coach	John Bonamego (3rd season);
Offensive coordinator	Chris Ostrowsky (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Greg Colby (3rd season)
Home stadium	Kelly/Shorts Stadium

2017 Mid-American Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
Akron xy	6	–	2	7	–	7
Ohio	5	–	3	9	–	4
Miami (OH)	4	–	4	5	–	7
Buffalo	4	–	4	6	–	6
Bowling Green	2	–	6	2	–	10
Kent State	1	–	7	2	–	10
West Division
Toledo xy$	7	–	1	11	–	3
	6	–	2	8	–	5
Northern Illinois	6	–	2	8	–	5
Western Michigan	4	–	4	6	–	6
Eastern Michigan	3	–	5	5	–	7
Ball State	0	–	8	2	–	10
Championship: Toledo 45, Akron 28
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant

The 2017 Central Michigan Chippewas football team represented Central Michigan University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by third-year head coach John Bonamego and played their home games at Kelly/Shorts Stadium as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 8–5, 6–2 in MAC play to finish in a tie for second place in the West Division. They received an invitation to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl where they lost to Wyoming.

Preseason

Central Michigan was picked to finish in fifth place in the MAC West Division in a preseason poll of league media.^[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	7:00 p.m.	Rhode Island*	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN3	W 30–27 ^3OT	16,311
September 9	3:00 p.m.	at Kansas*	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	FSN	W 45–27	28,531
September 16	3:30 p.m.	at Syracuse*	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY	ACCN Extra	L 17–41	33,004
September 23	3:30 p.m.	Miami (OH)	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN3	L 14–31	17,193
September 30	1:00 p.m.	at Boston College*	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA	ACCN Extra	L 8–28	27,036
October 7	2:00 p.m.	at Ohio	Peden Stadium Athens, OH	ESPN3	W 26–23	23,570
October 14	3:30 p.m.	Toledo	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN3	L 10–30	15,572
October 21	3:00 p.m.	at Ball State	Scheumann Stadium Muncie, IN	ESPN3	W 56–9	15,850
November 1	8:00 p.m.	at Western Michigan	Waldo Stadium Kalamazoo, MI (rivalry)	ESPN2	W 35–28	11,776
November 8	8:00 p.m.	Eastern Michigan	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI (rivalry)	ESPNU	W 42–30	9,700
November 14	7:00 p.m.	at Kent State	Dix Stadium Kent, OH	ESPNU	W 42–23	5,580
November 24	12:00 p.m.	Northern Illinois	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	CBSSN	W 31–24	8,744
December 22	4:00 p.m.	vs. Wyoming*	Albertsons Stadium Boise, ID (Famous Idaho Potato Bowl)	ESPN	L 14–37	16,512
*Non-conference game Homecoming All times are in Eastern time

^[2]

Game summaries

Rhode Island

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	3OT	Total
Rams	0	0	7	14	3	0	3	27
Chippewas	0	13	0	8	3	0	6	30

At Kansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	0	24	7	14	45
Jayhawks	3	3	14	7	27

At Syracuse

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	10	7	0	0	17
Orange	10	14	17	0	41

Miami (OH)

	1	2	3	4	Total
RedHawks	14	14	3	0	31
Chippewas	0	14	0	0	14

At Boston College

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	2	6	0	0	8
Eagles	14	7	7	0	28

At Ohio

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	7	6	6	7	26
Bobcats	7	7	0	9	23

Toledo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rockets	7	10	0	13	30
Chippewas	0	0	3	7	10

At Ball State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	7	21	7	21	56
Cardinals	3	3	3	0	9

At Western Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	7	0	7	21	35
Broncos	14	7	7	0	28

In an increasingly heavy downpour in Kalamazoo, the Chips avenged their 49-10 loss to the Broncos the year before. During the battle between the two bitter in-state rivals, the Chippewas fell behind 28-14 in the 3rd quarter. The Chips then staged a dramatic comeback in the 4th quarter, scoring 21 unanswered points, capped off by Shane Morris’ 77 yard touchdown pass to Corey Willis with 2:37 left in the game to defeat the Broncos for the first time since 2013 by a score of 35-28.

Eastern Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	7	10	0	13	30
Chippewas	14	14	7	7	42

At Kent State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	7	21	0	14	42
Golden Flashes	3	14	0	6	23

Northern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	14	3	0	7	24
Chippewas	0	0	17	14	31

Vs. Wyoming–Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	7	0	7	0	14
Cowboys	21	6	3	7	37

References

^ "MAC Football 2017: Toledo, Ohio University picked as division winners in preseason poll". cleveland.com. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
^ 2017 Central Michigan Chippewas football schedule 'FBSchedules.com'. Accessed April 14, 2017.

[1] "MAC Football 2017: Toledo, Ohio University picked as division winners in preseason poll". cleveland.com. Retrieved October 27, 2017.

[2] 2017 Central Michigan Chippewas football schedule 'FBSchedules.com'. Accessed April 14, 2017.

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Central Michigan Chippewas football
Venues	Kelly/Shorts Stadium (1972–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Eastern Michigan Western Michigan Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan: Michigan MAC Trophy
Culture & lore	Chippewa Marching Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913–1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold